Put the Kettle On
by cal.grab
Summary: AU/AH. Caroline all but stalks a very handsome man from the bread aisle. Ok, so it's stalking, but honestly, who can blame a girl?
1. Chapter 1

**So, there's been some trouble with my computer, which is why I haven't posted anything on the ongoings in a while. I'm currently working on my parent's computer, which is odd. **

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Fun fact of the day: Caroline hates snow. Why was she going to school in this god forsaken snowy hellhole? She had yet to figure out the answer. There was one redeeming fact to living on a mountain though: snow days. Snow days were Caroline's favorite, because it meant she could finish her weekend schedule ahead of time and actually get some damn sleep. Did her schedules make her neurotic? Yes. Did she care? No.

Glancing at her phone, Caroline winced at the reflection in the screen. I mean though, it's not like there are any hot guys roaming Earthfare at ten thirty in the morning on a random snow day, so what's the point of a flat iron and make up? The boyfriend jeans stuffed into a pair of Hunter wellies though, that was pushing it. She was really slumming it in her grey tank and an unzipped thigh length puffer jacket.

It's safe to say that Caroline wasn't looking cute, but once again, she could care less. Picking through the basket that hung on her left arm, Caroline realized that she had forgotten her customary gallon of organic milk and ducked back around the aisles to reach the dairy section.

And that's when things went down hill.


	2. Chapter 2

She had just made it past the bread aisle when she noticed a buggy coming out from the aisle she was about to walk out in front of. Stopping short, she decided to let whoever it was out first, she was feeling generous after all. Glancing at the person pushing the grocery-laden cart, Caroline did a double take. Sharp cheekbones and stubble (oh shit, did she just drool?) with a pair of grey blue eyes were sitting underneath a striped toboggan. This guy was all man in his dark jeans and black pea coat.

"I'm sorry, you just look really familiar." Caroline blurted when he gave her a strange look for her staring.

"I'm afraid I don't recognize you love." Oh sweet baby Jesus, he was British, and he was giving her an awkward grin. Thank God she was wearing wellies so she could truck through her melted self.

"Oh honey, I'd remember you." Caroline paused after the words fell from her lips and felt the heat rise to her face. Did she just say that? Did she just call him honey? He looked as shocked as she did, and rightfully so. Caroline wasn't a girl who blurted things like that. I mean, yea she could be awkward, couldn't everyone? But this was past the drawn line. After staring at each other for a beat, Caroline took off, nearly at a run to get her milk, before ducking out of the store.

It would become the biggest regret of her life.


	3. Chapter 3

**So sadly, that was a true story. I ran into a guy at the grocery store that was the spitting image of JoMo and I ****proceeded to make a fool of myself. I about died. **

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"You know," Katherine took a slurp from her milkshake, "he sounds really familiar." It had been some months since the incident, and Caroline was left, for lack of a better word, stalking the man. Seriously though, she was skipping classes to go to Earthfare at odd times, just hoping to run into him again. Caroline had finally confided in her close friend one rare warm day whilst drooling over the guys at the car wash from the next parking lot over, and drinking milkshakes. It brought a whole new meaning to the song Milkshake.

"What do you mean he sounds familiar?" Caroline took her eyes off of the guys to stare at Kat like an owl. "Do you know him? Where is he? Where did you see him?" Caroline began with the rapid-fire questions.

"Calm your tits bitch. I've seen him at the coffee shop, maybe once or twice." Katherine looked alarmed at the degree of obsession that Caroline was lurking at. It was borderline creepy. "I'll let you know if I see him again though, let's face it, you need to get laid." Caroline shot her friend a warning look before turning back to her orange push pop milk shake and the car wash boys.

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**Thankfully though, there's some good in the world, and my friend Cat has seen him around as well. She's helping me track him down. From here on out, the story deviates from real life. And yes. I do enjoy milkshakes while watching hot boys wash cars. It's a past time of mine. **

**-E.C. **


	4. Chapter 4

Two months without a sighting, and Caroline was beginning to lose hope. She had briefly seen a guy for about two weeks, but couldn't stop thinking about the guy at the grocery store. Putting her head in her hands, she realized that she truly was a stalker, and that did not bode well for Caroline. It was time to move on.

Sighing, Caroline went back to stitching the beading along her costume, prepping for some party that a girl she knew from high school was throwing. Caroline had hated high school and really didn't feel like going, but the girl had always been sweet to her, and let's face it, Caroline couldn't resist a theme. The theme was a woodland fantasy thing, and Caroline was excited about that, settling on a purple fairy. Cliché with the whole fairy thing, but she had gotten some purple tulle on sale and had decided to go with it.

Caroline had a small problem with being a bit…over the top, and she was worried about upstaging the birthday girl. Her handmade pancake tutu was going to be one of those things that was too much, and she knew it. Caroline sighed and shoved the thing under her bed. A maxi skirt would do just as well, and would be slightly more subtle. Caroline had just bought a dark teal sheer maxi with a high slit and matching shorts to combat the sheerness. It wasn't purple, but that was close enough.


	5. Chapter 5

Taking a slug from her Starbucks tumbler, filled with cheap rum and Hawaiian Punch, Caroline began to regret her decision to turn up. She saw some people from high school, and only one girl she hated. Haley was the bitch that she tried to be friends with at Tyler's insistence, but the girl rejected Caroline by claiming she 'couldn't handle a friendship with the girl who was dating the boy she loved'. Caroline thought it was a load of bullshit.

Everyone was pretty dressed up, and the birthday girl had been pleased at Caroline's arrival, but Kat hadn't been invited, and Caroline didn't know anyone here. Typing up a text to one of her roommates, Caroline asked the girl if she minded unlocking the front door. It was a fairly nice night and Caroline decided that she didn't mind walking.

Wishing Elena a happy birthday, Caroline began to move through the crowd of people to the front door when she stopped. There he was. In all of his delicious glory, he was standing next to a dark haired guy and Caroline was drunk enough to stumble over to them.

"You!" She pointed at the British guy, who was revealed to have short, dirty blonde hair, "I embarrassed myself in front of you," She emphasized her words with a sharp poke to the chest. "My name is Caroline though, and damn if you aren't fine." The other man that was with him laughed and made his exit, allowing Caroline to finally hit on the stranger,

"Klaus." He said, not slurring at all, unlike Caroline. She gave him a confused look, letting him know that one worded sentences were not going to work on her alcohol addled brain. "My name?" Caroline nodded wisely.

"That's a funny name." She grinned, as she tried to keep her drunken eyes open. "Walk with me Klaus, I can't find my pepper spray." He frowned at the mention of pepper spray, but was intrigued about where the pretty blonde wanted him to go.


End file.
